Despite the slowdown in deals activity in recent weeks, some practitioners are staying optimistic that business is still available.

There has been a clear slowing of activity in 2009 which is a continuing trend from the fourth quarter of 2008.

But Andrew Williamson, partner and leader of the capital markets team at McClure Naismith, believes there are opportunities if people know where to look.

"There is a reasonable amount of activity out there and people are looking at doing deals," he says.

"These are not huge, fundraising deals because getting funds – whether equity or debt – remains difficult, if not impossible, unless you are an absolutely perfect candidate for it.

"But there are still individuals and institutions in the world that are cash-rich. Some of them are now coming to the conclusion that it is time to buy."

Williamson was involved in one of the biggest deals in recent months, advising on a US$927m acquisition by RAK Real Estate of the British Virgin Islands of major commercial property assets based in Kuwait City from real estate investment firm RAFCO. HSBC's head of leveraged finance scotland, Steve Hewes, confirms the general banking market environment has tightened appreciably with a limited number of relationship banks operating in the buyout market, particularly for new issue deals.

"There is no change in the bank's position regarding making funds available for deals," he says.

"HSBC will continue to take a selective approach, focusing on quality deals and working alongside our key private equity relationships."

The oil and gas sector has been particularly badly hit with plunging oil prices and the credit crunch taking a heavy toll on takeover activity.

But experts believe opportunistic predators might see the sector as a source of bargains this year.

Dana also secured a big funding package with Bank of Scotland that gives it firepower for other deals.

In another deal – and another sector – Braveheart, the Perth-based angel investor, has led a £430,000 funding round into Pufferfish, which was spun out of the University of Edinburgh in 2004.

Pufferfish is the firm behind a spherical projection system used by the likes of Coldplay and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Across all sectors the recession has affected what business owners can expect to receive for their firms, with the price of companies starting to come down.

"There is still a resistance to accept loss of valuations but they are going to have to get their heads around the fact that you cannot get 15 or 20 or 25 times multiple for a company," says Williamson.

"People are realising they have to do deals at a much lower level. As long as you are prepared to accept a lower amount now but are able to transform your business and go forward in a difficult time, it will push the economy forwards."

But the deals market is highly unlikely to get any easier in the coming months, particularly while the banks continue to resist lending at the levels seen a year ago.

Hewes says: "New deals will inevitably be at much lower volumes and from a banking perspective these will be restricted to highly defensible credits given the capital constraints a number of the banks are faced with."

And Williamson gives a word of advice: "You also have to be a bit more sophisticated about the jurisdictions where you do these transactions.

"if you are prepared to work in the global environment there are still places where people are buoyant and there is cash floating around. That market can be tapped into to develop and drive business forward."